BrandoFan

No you must have him confused with Adkins and Politte.

I'll say this much: between that 2-2 pitch to Kielty that was called a ball 3 and the 2-2 by Bradford to Jose that was called a strike 3....that's just plain ol' bad umpiring. You cannot ring up a batter on a 2-2 pitch that is 2 inches too low.....when it's a 7th inning, there are 2 outs and his team is down by 3. That's just irresponsible. Sure, if the count was 3-0 or even 3-1 and he was a lead off batter in a tied ball-game, in that case I can see the ump "expanding" the strike-zone to help out the pitcher.....But not under the circumstances it happened in. Similarly, I can see the ump calling Neal's outside fastball a 'BALL' if A's were DOWN by a run, there were 2 outs and a do-or-die situation........But as it was, the A's were batting in the bottom of the inning, there were NO outs and the runner was already standing on 1st. That was an awful call - especially when Redman was getting that location all game. In tightly contested games like this, luck and umpiring decide all. :puke

In the last 3 weeks, Neal singlehandedly lost 3 games for the Sox. In Toronto. In Minnesota. In Oakland. When the game is on the line, his curve all but disappears, change-up stays up and fastball either misses by a foot or is put on a T for a hitter to hammer. A headcase in a Sox organization? You don't say. But to be fair, Sox deserved to lose this game any way: from Konerko's baserunning blunder that had him doubled up in 2nd....to Rowand's 2 bobbles and 0-fer at plate.....to Valentin failing to get down a bunt.....to Konerko chasing a change-up in the dirt with 2 aboard......to Crede DP-happy ineptitude and "slipping" while fielding a grounder.....to Olivo choking in front of Billie Beane.....to Timo Perez's worthlessness.......to Gload not paying attention and failing to take advantage of Crosby's wild throw.....to Ozzie sending Gload.....to Loaiza's TOTAL ineptitude.....to Marte losing his s*** in the 10th.

Good lord, Marte had him at 1-2....lead off walk. f***.

Bad lead? Check. Mediore jump timing? Check How in the world was Gload planning to steal off a fastball? My god, this is ridiculous. The only player who can swipe bags without good leads/jumps is Willie. on this team. Ozzie :fyou

Amen, Paulie's defense is (knock on wood) much sharper in 2004 than last year's -- that ball was ticketed for RF.

Dude, Jose is simply not seeing the spin early off lefties right now and both of his bunt strike-outs this season reflect it. He'll be ok in a few weeks.

Hey man, he can't pick up the breaking ball of LHP since he's just learning them at the tender age of 34. He'll get better as he sees them and their particular release points at least once. Going on DL and having his timing messed up didn't help the matters either. Keep on mocking Manos - he'll pleasantly surprise you when it's all said and done.

Baseball history IS littered with them, Bauman being the one who hit 70+ with 200+ RBI. In the Texas leagues alone there were several more 50+, 150+. Do the research - starting from Bill James's Historical Abstract. Or did you think I was gonna just cough up the names because you requested them? I owe you nothing, old man. 5 more over 5 years? That would make just one per year since 2000 - Robbie played in more games and often bunted on his own volition a BUNCH even when he was hitting .330. And Robbie is a great bunter, mind you, whereas Jose is just average-to-above average in the last 5 years with the Sox. What's Robbie's rate of failure? I have no idea but neither have you. You can produce no proof regarding the 4 bunt strike-outs - perhaps you meant Jose made an out after bunting off a pitch for strike 1? That's not exactly "failing to bunt" - if I were to use this criterion, then Robbie made a bunch of outs after bunting for strike 1 or even Strike 2 last year - and Willie, Sox' second best bunter, should have even more of them in his brief career. I, on the other hand, can produce 2 bunt base hits and 3 sac bunts by Jose in the first 2 months of this year alone - and he was out for 2 weeks, so it's basically over 6 weeks. The season is young yet. Niiice try. Jose was among the best bunters on this team since 2000. You can make up all the "failed" bunts you wish - bunt hits and sac bunts speak for themselves. He had 2 failed bunts this year, both off LHP - Sandy and Wilie hads a few failked bunts themselves. But whatever, Dickaroo.

Oh good, another BS artist weighs in....

Maybe if you say "4" enough times, it might just come true. Keep on watching the games and keep on making stuff up.

Yeah, cause two of those at bats he ended up getting a hit, inclduing a HR in Munny. That's not "failure to move the runner over". Roberto Alomar is a great bunter. He only has 3 more sac bunts than Valentin since 2000. Oops, turns out he can bunt afterall.

4th? Try second. He still among the leaders on this team in sac bunts and bunt singles. Nice try. And he'll be playng against LHP, get used to it.

Chalk that run up to Rowand - his second bobble today (the first one on the play where the runner was just safe at 2b but they got the rundown). Oh s*** the ball drops in front of Willie.....Phew the still get the runner at 2b. Uribe saved Loaiza's ass.

I think the 3rd rock from the sun dude freaking out in the TZ: TM was hilarious.

AL hitters don't know him, so I assume he'd have real good 4 months in 2004. Ace? Not even close. #2? Probably not. As good as Garcia? IMO, yes. Makes 2 Mill less. Getting rid of Konerko's remaining 17 Mill will be niiiice, too .

I am not against giving Maggs the boot, mind you. But let's clear something up right now: Nanita and Young will never sniff the majors. One of Anderson, Sweeney, Reed is gonna be a bust to end all busts, I haven't decided which one yet. Another one will be completely unspectacular, a mediocre ML'er. That leaves one. Maybe. Lee will be gone. Maggs will be gone. CF-RF-LF will be for grabs. 3 positions for 1 player. Niice.

I could see paying Magglio a little bit over what he is worth -- which to me is 12-13 Mill tops since the only time he "led" the team to the postseason, he was playing second fiddle to Frank and had promptly choked therein -- just to keep him away from the Cubs. The 5/70 offer with lots of deferred moneys is basically it - paying him just a little over what Sox can afford just because he is a fan favorite. He obvisouly wants more and there is nothing Sox can do. Nada. Average speed. Above-average defense that will decline Sammy Sosa-style as he is getting older and more power-happy. All-Star bat, but no longer hitting at the HOF level - has he ever? Below average marketability. 4-5 year deal at 14-15 Mill a year? I don't think so. Chao.

Kong is playing very well, but I'll still do Konerko-for-Perez in a SECOND.

He pretty much won Game 3 of NLDS and Game 3 of NLCS for them. Had another big hit but I forget which game. Coming off the bench, that's not easy to do. Some of his outs were hard-hit, too. The thing with Simon is you have to know what he can't do - hit LHP, hit with bases empty and play on a losing team. Then he just goes through the motions and his numbers plummet.

I think it's the other way around: it's the Cubs that can pretty much end Houston's season by sweeing them. Prior is already back. Wood and Sosa won't be far behind. Maddux is finally locating his pitches. Derek Lee hasn't even gotten on roll yet. All Cubs have to do is make Hawkins the closer and have Farnsworth/Remlinger set-up. Andy Pettite has just gone on DL again. Cubs have a very tough schedule in June, but if they manage to stay 10 games over .500 at the end of the month, they'll run away with. Cardinals are preteders just as they were in 2003, and Astros have their hopes pinned on a 41yo Clemens and 40yo Biggio. I hope Cubs never get healthy and go under .500 and miss the wild card by 10 games, but that's just a Sox fan speaking. When healthy, Cubs are the best team in NL bar none.

Steve Finley? He will have 3-4 Mill left on his contract by the time Sox realize Timo Perez sucks. What do Sox give up in order for money-hemorraging D-Backs to want to pick up the remaining salary?

There are injuries and there are INJURIES (disk, elbow, shoulder). What's good is Armas's "potential" if he throws 89 mph BP fastball Danny Wright style? If he is completely healthy and has ld stuff back, why would Montreal only settle for Rauch? If he is a damaged good, he won't be much help to the Sox. Which one is it, beck72?

Yes despite his overall numbers not looking all that sexy, I think Simon could be an exception, I really do. He just doesn't show up in games that don't matter from the looks of it. When I saw him with the Cubs during the pennant race last year, he was a completely different player than with Tigers or Pirates - he was having fun and was more intense at the same time. (Ditto for Ramirez and Lofton, btw.) And his 3-year stats against RHP (which is what the Sox would need him for in case Paulie can't hit them again) - particularly with RO and RISP - are suprisingly good. Plus there is (an admittedly small) chance that as he gets closer to 30yo he'll get smarter and will start laying off some of the head-high/dirt-low pitches that he loves to go after, and will thus becomes a better hitter....It's a chance that's IMO worth a few hundred K he would cost the Sox.

What, the great Orlando Cabrera is not carrying the team on his bacK? But I thought he was worth 8 Mill a year....